Coast Guard medevacs ailing motor vessel crewman off Va.

A rescue swimmer from a Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., prepares a man for a medevac from the motor vessel Houston Express about 25 miles east of Virginia Beach, Va., Friday, Feb. 27, 2015.

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard medevaced an ailing crewman Friday from a motor vessel approximately 25 miles east of Virginia Beach.

Watchstanders at the Coast Guard 5th District Command Center in Portsmouth, Virginia, received a report Thursday at about 4:35 p.m. from the 1089-foot, German-flagged freight ship Houston Express, stating a male crewman was suffering from abdominal pain approximately 345 miles east of Virginia Beach.

To enable a medevac, the crew of Houston Express, en route to France, changed course toward Virginia to meet with a Coast Guard helicopter crew.

A MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew launched from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, around dawn on Friday. The aircrew met with Houston Express about 25 miles east of Virgina Beach at approximately 7:15 a.m., hoisted the man and took him to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk where he is reported in stable condition.